South Sudan to provide cash transfer to over 400k schoolgirls

JUBA, NOV. 3, 2023 (SUDANS POST) – South Sudan government announced on Friday that about 425,000 schoolgirls across the world’s youngest country will receive cash transfer funds provided by the government and its partners on Monday.

The Girls Education South Sudan (GESS) cash transfer fund, a project that aims to promote girls’ education in the country, is projected to cost at least SSP12 million and is paid to primary and secondary schoolgirls who are regularly attending classes.

The cash transfers program for schoolgirls is run by Girls Education South Sudan with funding from the UK, Canada, EU, USAID, Sweden, and Norway.

Speaking to journalists during a press conference in Juba on Friday, the Minister of General Education and Instruction, Awut Deng Acuil, said that the beneficiaries of the cash transfer fund are girls who are currently enrolled in and regularly attending primary 5 to senior high school.

“The 2023 cash transfers target girls who are currently enrolled in and regularly attending classes from primary 5 and senior 4, and girls enrolled in the GESS accelerated learning program will also be eligible to receive cash transfers,” she said.

The senior South Sudanese government official explained that the primary objective of the cash transfer is to support and empower girls across the country to access quality education.

“The primary objective of the 2023 cash transfer is to support and empower girls across South Sudan in accessing and successfully completing their education by reducing the financial burden on parents and students,” she said.

According to the minister, the payment process will be rigorously supervised by ministry staff at the national and state levels, and the GESS monitoring and evaluation team.

For his part, Akuja De Garang, the team leader for Girls Education South Sudan, said that they will not pay ghost learners.

“Girls have to be enrolled and all the names have to be entered into the system. We make sure that we are not paying ghost learners. We are trying very much together with the ministry to improve the process, and we will continue to do better,” said Garang.